There was an allure to the
Peppermints' 2003 album Sweet Tooth Abortion. Its wrecked electric guitar and occasional spunky drumbeats kind of let you ignore the mumbled lyrics, inane screaming, and messy discord crammed in its margins. Like the
Coachwhips,
Country Teasers, or even
G.G. Allin, the
Peppermints' overall aesthetic was compelling even when their moving parts weren't. 2005's Jesus Chryst takes a different approach. It amplifies the yelps, howls, and guttural instrumentation, forgoing scraggly punk derivation for noisy detours into confrontation for confrontation's sake. "Snak 10" is 42 seconds of chanted vocal gibberish; the spindly "Rabid Frogs" could be
Huggy Bear as court jesters. Often, as on "Red Wedding, White Wedding," the
Peppermints deconstruct their songs into piles of clattering instruments and incoherent vocals. It's obvious that Jesus Chryst is meant to confront, confound, or otherwise rub meanly against conservatism, from its artwork's hedonistic reset of the Last Supper to unsafe-for-work song titles like "Sexy Total Fuck." ~ Johnny Loftus